BREWER, Maine — When The Rock Church applied for a permit to expand its North Brewer Shopping Plaza location in January, city officials discovered that churches are not allowed in the strip mall because of zoning.
The church ended up moving to Bangor, but Brewer was informed recently that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the city’s zoning and land use practices for churches, City Manager Steve Bost confirmed.
“Our investigation will focus on how the city’s zoning law treats religious land uses and the justification therefore,” Steven Rosenbaum, chief of housing and civil enforcement for the Justice Department, said in a letter to the city. “We also are reviewing, as part of our investigation, the city’s denial of the Rock Church’s application for permission to expand.”
The Rock Church was allowed to move into the North Brewer Shopping Plaza in 2009, but when it asked to expand to 14,000 square feet earlier this year, Ben Breadmore, Brewer’s code enforcement officer, discovered that it couldn’t because of zoning rules.
“We realized at the time [they wanted to expand] that they’re not legally allowed there,” Breadmore said.
Because the church had been operating out of the shopping plaza for three years, the city deemed it a legal, nonconforming use but denied its application to expand.
Church officials and Dana Cassidy, the owner of the property, said they were upset about the expansion’s denial, but church officials never filed an appeal of Breadmore’s Feb. 17 decision and instead decided to move before their lease expired in April.
Still, Cassidy said he and church officials, through their attorneys, both sent letters to the city stating the expansion denial violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which is the law cited in Justice Department’s letter.
When the land use code problem arose earlier this year, the city tasked Breadmore with fixing it, Bost said.
“What Ben did was to recommend to the council that modifications be made to the ordinance to make sure the city was not discriminating against houses of worship,” the city manager said.
The problem occurred because the updated land use code placed churches into assembly groups barred from convenience business zoning, a difference from the code in place in 2009 when the church moved into the shopping center, Breadmore said.
Brewer city councilors on Tuesday amended the land use code to again allow churches in the convenience business zoning district.
The Justice Department requested that the city provide a decade’s worth of documents that fall under 11 separate categories, including any applications by churches and nonreligious assembly entities, such as bars and clubs, for occupancy permits, special exceptions, rezoning, special use permits, site plan review approval, and amendments to the city’s comprehensive plan.
A copy of the land use code in use and copies of any previous land use codes or comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances or other regulations, citations, notices of violations and orders to cease a certain use were also requested.
In addition, the letter asks for a list of current and former city code or inspection employees, and all communications about The Rock Church or the shopping plaza at 391 North Main St.
“They’re on a fact-finding mission,” said Breadmore, who is compiling all the requested data. “It’s to make sure the city is not treating churches differently.”
Seems like much ado about nothing…
Actually this is to make sure that City Commissioners aren’t getting any sort of bribes to deny other churches reasonably accessible property…
Get Mr. BUBAR involved, he’ll straighten it all out for the city.
Our government working. This issue is obviously so important that the government must act on it BEFORE some of the other problems which are not so important… like our trade imbalance with China, our porous southern border, and a 9% unemployment rate.
Did these guys notice that Gas is over $4 in most Maine locations.
Yes, it is impossible to consider and do more than one thing at once. That’s why we all have the inability to breathe and blink at the same time.
And these national issues have bearing how? Granted, the USDOJ is federal but what can they do about the issues you mentioned?
If you the city mishandled this one-wait until the multiple car accidents start happening down at 972 Wilson Street-the site of the new Fireworks store. With at least 30,000 cars a day passing by that location on a busy summer day people will lose their lives trying to turn left toward Ellsworth and Bar Harbor and questions will be asked-lots of them……
I get my haircut right across the hall. The place is a shopping mall, not a place of worship!
Places where I’ve lived like S. California , I’ve seen people complaining about churches locating in residential areas. It seems like most commercial locations take care of the issues like traffic and parking they raised. I can’t see any good reasons for Brewer’s zoning policy on this.
It makes perfect sense. They’re occupying a place where taxes could be levied if a real business were in there. Is it much of a reason?… not really, but I’m sure the lawyers see it differently. By having a non-taxable entity renting the ‘commercial space’, they’re preventing a real business from being able to do business in that space – which would provide taxes to the city through any sales, and would provide jobs and economy-boosting stimulus through more spending.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the separation of church and state that is part of our Constitution. If this church is not paying taxes on this property since it is a designated house of worship, why is the Justice Department involved? If it is paying taxes on the property, it does not fall under the category of house of worship, and thus falls under the code requirements of any other business. If it is a business, does it have a legal permit to operate as such? It appears to me that, per the article above, the council was in err in allowing the church to establish itself in the mall in the first place. It also appears that an attempt was tried to rectify this err by not allowing the expansion. Since the establishment is already there, I’m not sure what the legalities might be with regard to forcing the church to close since it was the council in err, but I have to wonder why the Justice Department has become involved in a religious problem.
Um, gee, perhaps because freedom of religion is part of our Constitution? Call me silly but letting a church be in a location for years and then changing the zoning and denying them when they want to expand looks a bit fishy and possibly illegal. Nothing surprising again from Brewer, this is to be expected.
From my understanding they didn’t change the zoning laws.
You’re correct. This is what happened:
“The problem occurred because the updated land use code placed churches into assembly groups barred from convenience business zoning, a difference from the code in place in 2009 when the church moved into the shopping center, Breadmore said.”
It was a code change. The final effect was the same, they were not allowed to be there.
Don’t even know where to start, there is so much misinformation and incorrect assumptions in that post. Only in America can one talk so much without having to know what they are talking about….
Let’s place a church on every corner and tax the bejeesus out of them all. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say the government can’t tax churches or their property. So let the taxes roll. Just think of the money that would suddenly become available, only down side is the priest would have to start driving a hyundai instead of a lexus. As long as they are political they should pay the piper.
many churches as well as non-religious organizations operate as Non-Profits, which allows them certain tax exemptions. This is not a bad thing! Non-Profit organizations are often the most community driven; helping and supporting people in need. I think that deserves a tax break.
Non-Profit? Have you seen some of the shiny stuff that the Catholic church has?
now see why the code enforcement should be bringing in the town attorney when an ordinance is in such a precarious position and allow the town attorney make the call as he is covered by errors and omission insurance,now the town has just purchased a large can of woop arse
If there is a zoning restriction against groups of assembly of a certain size then churches should be included. Having special rules that allow more leeway for churches but not for other organizations amounts to discriminating against those other groups on the basis of religion.
efirst of all you lunk heads hollering about taxes it was leased spaced taxes big taxes were being paid ok got it second of all breadmore is responsible for this it ain’t his first screw up brewer is about to get spanked big time as they should
Fast food Christianity in a strip mall! I love it!
The church was renting a space that the landlord was already PAYING taxes on so by renting it is actually better than the church owning their own land. As people come to church they often go out after to dine at local restaurants and shop in local stores adding to the economy. The idea that another retail store is better does not hold water. Look across the road and see what types of businesses occupy the strip mall, over half the space is service centers of some type and not retail.
put in a pool, and call it an aquarium… come on in, water’s nice, don’t mind the sharks…
This is just lip service by Holder and the Department of Injustice. If this was a mosque they would be all over it.
The law in question was passed during the Bush Administration
Meanwhile back at the ranch…….(crickets chirping in the background)
At the time they said it was a blessing anyway, and best for their rock and rock church to move to a property that they owned … or at lease could one day.. . besides the new location has better acoustics.
Now, they’re silently praying for big settlement blessing, too, no doubt.
I can see a big lawsuit against the city of Brewer for this. This also happened where i used to live years ago, a church was in the strip mall, (two churches might add, both expanded, except the one got denied) they moved out, sued the city, got big bucks from them.
As a land owner and investor I have been watching this case with great interest.
I have had the City of Bangor dictate who and who may not rent one of my properties, causing me financial harm and I would love to have some legal recourse.